What Pen For Organic Solvents?

[Chrontius]

It occurs to me that while my ink may be proof against all but the most potent solvents (by the time Bulletproof Black fails, the paper will be in solution) my pen may not be - i don't particularly want to run a pen I like, but I do have a few backup Manuscript "college cartridge pens". I don't want to spend them lightly, but... it's better than losing a Parker. Then I remembered the Schrade tactical fountain pen. While I'll save the utility of tactical pens for another flamewar thread, the only polymer exposed is the feed, and in a pinch it can be converted to take standard sized Schmidt rollerball cartridges.

 

Is there any kind of interesting chemistry that can attack aluminum, save mercury-catalyzed disintegration? This will be used for a semester in an organic chemistry lab with Noodler's bulletproof or cheap carbon-based ink from Pen & Ink Sketch that resisted all experimental attempts at "check washing" with inorganic household solvents, including a chlorine bleach based mildew remover. Unfortunately, the vast majority of our solvents are organic, and in that category I've only tested it against ethanol and isopropanol solutions... but that's a topic for another subforum.

 

What pen would you use when you risk exposing it to solvents? I'd order a CountyComm embassy pen, available in aluminum, copper, stainless steel, and titanium - but it's a glorified Space pen, and not a fountain pen... but it offers an o-ring-less watertight seal. Titanium wasn't mentioned, but I found a document stating that both anodized aluminum and stainless are pretty proof against anything we risk contact with.

 

Does anybody make a pen out of epoxide resins? Those are proof against anything short of concentrated nitric acid, and molten tin. Something made from a glass-fiber containing composite like G10 would be quite ideal as well; glass is quite inert enough for the job.

[Chrontius]

I've just found a Bexley 2010 owner's club model made of G10 for $197. That's a little rich for me, but for the curious: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/198566-bexley-g10/

 

I've also found the anodized aluminum Schrade tactical fountain pen on Amazon.

 

I would be amenable to using something genuinely expendable as well, but supplies of really cheap (bleep) have dried up locally. Basically the only thing available is the Pilot Plumix and my one Daiso 100-yen pen, which fortunately is cheap, but is unfortunately irreplaceable without flying to the west coast. My criteria for expendables are compatible with Noodler's, and available at retail.

 

It further occurs to me that teflon is everything-proof, and bar stock is available. If I supplied the bar stock, is there anyone who turns custom pens on a lathe?

Edited August 30, 2011 by Chrontius

[rwilsonedn]

I'm not sure about broad-spectrum resistance to organic solvents, but if vulcanized rubber might work, you can get some relatively inexpensive, nice-writing pens from India that are made entirely of hard rubber and metal. One easy source is www.allrightnow.net. (no affiliation, except happy customer.) Sometimes these pens require a little work to not leak, and they are eyedropper fillers, which are not to everyone's taste. But the smooth writing and great ink capacity could be handy in a lab if vulcanite is a sufficiently inert material for you.

ron

[Chrontius]

Vulcanized rubber is one of the most soluble things I found on the chart, sadly. I'd have just picked up a Noodler's model, otherwise.

 

If I could get them to do one in teflon, I'd put down money tonight.

 

Also, they're at www.allwritenow.net - and if I could get a teflon Varuna, that'd be awesome.

Edited August 30, 2011 by Chrontius

[FarmBoy]

You could have a pen made from Torlon like Altec Green recently did but that simply isn't practical when for the same cost you could get several dozen Noodlers pens.

 

I've been a chemist for more years than I care to admit and have a considerable number of hours at the bench. Technically I'm an inorganic chemist but all that means is I'm really an organic chemist that does interesting things and I can actually count to 18. But I digress, why exactly would your pen be attacked by chemicals, just keep it in your pocket and take off your gloves when you write with it. OR get a cheap pen and leave it in the lab on the bench.

 

Now where are you in the scheme of things? Undergrad? Gradstudent? Where? Always fun to chat pens and chemistry. Heck we could even chat the chemistry of pens. First up is simple chromatography of inks. Stay away from the solubility tests on fountain pens...

 

Chemical Farmboy

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Perhaps the all-metal Cross ATX.

 

(I use a rotring 600 and the Pelikan P99 Technix as my field pens - both all metal & profoundly robust - both sadly discontinued.)

 

Bye,

S1

[DrPJM1]

http://home.comcast.net/~fonville/T-1ss.jpg

[dachin]

In my experience as a lab assistant last summer, organic solvents modified/damaged the finish on a few of my pens making them more shiny and smooth. I dealt with pretty volatile solvents, primarily toluene and heptane. I would suggest just using an inexpensive yet modern pen (modern plastics are a bit more durable) since you shouldn't really be handling your lab pen outside of the lab without very thorough cleaning. In my case I used my lamy 2000 in the lab for the first few weeks until one day I accidentally picked it up using gloves that had a bit of toluene on them. The finish is now not quite the fine-grain wood feel of when I first purchased the pen, but now of polished wood with a hint of grain.

 

On a side note, all non-fountain pen inks that I have tried will be removed by strong organic solvents due to them being soluble in organic solvents themselves. My iron gall based lamy ink was unaffected when I accidentally spilled chemicals on my notebook

[Blooze]

I've been a chemist for nearly 20 years and I've never had any pen damaged by solvents or any other chemicals for that matter. If you follow protocol like Farmboy suggested above you won't have any problems. If you handle your pen with gloves after they've been exposed to or have solvents on them, then you might run the risk of damaging it. Just get a cheaper pen that writes well with the ink you choose, designate it your lab pen, and enjoy class. .

[Chrontius]

Just found something languishing in my ink drawer -- a well-chewed (by pulling the feed and refilling) Pilot Varsity already loaded with (bulletproof) Legal Lapis. I have my lab pen.

 

Oh, Dr. PJM -- I wish. I've desperately wanted one of them for years.

Edited August 30, 2011 by Chrontius

[raging.dragon]

As others have suggested, either be very careful with your pen, or get a pen cheap enough you don't care about damaging it.

 

Is there any kind of interesting chemistry that can attack aluminum, save mercury-catalyzed disintegration?

 

My organic chem lab class involved alot of sulphuric and nitric acids, and strong acids can destroy aluminum pretty fast. I'd recommend stainless steel or titanium. I'm not sure about the corrosion resistance of anodized aluminum.

 

It further occurs to me that teflon is everything-proof, and bar stock is available. If I supplied the bar stock, is there anyone who turns custom pens on a lathe?

 

I'd suggest talking to edison pens about it:

 

http://www.edisonpen.com/

 

I haven't bought from them (yet), but there are lots of excellent reviews here, they mostly do custom work and Brian seems to be willing to work with non-traditional materials.